The Boot - Next Steps (Book 2)

Chapter Seven

AARON

"Look, I get where you're coming from. I understand why you don't want Tim to know," I say.

Isabel crosses her arms. "But...?"

"But there's not a lot anyone can do to help you if you refuse to let the police get involved."

"I'm letting you get involved, aren't I?"

"You are now. However, you didn't know I was coming, so I'm going to take a guess and say that you wouldn't have told me either."

"So what?"

"Genn isn't even a cop. Why are you here, pouring your heart out to her as if there is something that she can actually do about it?"

"Because..." Isabel sighs. "I needed advice. I'm sure that Genn has heard plenty of police stories and sh!t from her brother, so I figured that maybe she might have some valuable insight on how I should handle this."

I move my gaze to Genn. "Were you going to keep this from me? The fact that the ex-wife of your brother who also happens to sort of be my boss and is already pissed at me for having a relationship with you... his ex-wife is at your house and telling you all of this?"

"Actually, yes. Well, possibly," Genn answers.

"What does that even mean?"

Genn looks at Isabel for approval, but Isabel holds her hand up. "It's okay. I'll tell him."

"Tell me what?"

"Before you came here, she was actively trying to convince me to let her cop boyfriend help me. She was giving me reason after reason about how you're super good at your job and how you'd be my best bet. She was trying to advise me to turn to you. So yes. She was planning on telling you. If I agreed to it, that is."

"Well..." I pause, absorbing the information. "Would you have?"

Isabel shrugs. "I was leaning towards it."

"So let me help you now. Please."

"How can we be sure that Tim won't find out?"

"Well, for one, he's still recovering from being shot. He hasn't even been cleared to return to work yet. He's off for at least another week, more than that if his doctor's appointment doesn't go well."

"Hang on," Isabel's jaw is on the floor. "He was shot?"

"Yeah. Three times. It was this big fiasco. He went to go help with a hostage situation, turns out it was his mom who was holding the people hostage, and then she shot him multiple times... right when Lucy found out she went into labor, and Tim almost missed it. The second he found out that she was in labor, even though he had just had surgery to remove a bullet from his chest, he hurried as fast as he could to her. He barely made it in time."

Once I had finished my ranting info dump, Isabel just stared back at me in shock. So does Genn, but she already knew all this so I assume she's just shocked by how much I was able to explain in such little time.

I catch my breath before changing the subject back to the matter at hand. "How about this? I won't mention where the info came from. I'll... um... I'll say that one of my CIs heard about it and relayed the info back to me. Your name stays out of it completely."

"Uh-huh, and what if someone asks to hear it from your CI? Perhaps they need to hear it again so they can file the paperwork or something."

"I have plenty of CIs who would be willing to have my back for something like this."

"Wouldn't they want to know where the info actually came from?"

I beam pridefully. "Nope. They trust me and are willing to help me out in situations just like this one without asking for or needing any sort of further explanation."

Isabel thinks about it for a moment before she nods reluctantly. "Okay. But keep my name completely out of it and do everything in your power to ensure that none of this gets back to Tim."

"Of course."

I say goodbye and hop into my car, making my way back to the station. I approach Sergeant Grey's door and don't even have a chance to knock before he looks up at me, clearly confused as to why I'm here on my day off in my civies, and waves me in.

"Thorsen, what are you doing here?" Sergeant Grey asks as I take a seat. "I thought it was your day off."

"Yes, but I found something out and it's important that this is looked into as soon as possible."

"What is it?"

"There's a felon who served her time and got out on good behavior. She's about halfway into her parole."

His eyes narrow slightly as if something about my words seems almost... familiar to him. "Go on."

"Her name is Emiliana Jergesen."

Sergeant Grey tries to hide the small gasp which escapes him. "I'm sorry, did you just say Emiliana Jergesen?"

"Yes, sir," I nod.

He takes a brief moment to collect himself. "What about her?"

"Apparently she once was in a gang that Alejandro led. She's expressed her fears that because he's got a trial coming up and the police are looking into his known associates to testify against him... well, she's afraid that he is going to send someone to make sure that she stays quiet."

"What- but- How does he know that we're looking into his associates to testify? That's classified. I'm almost worried about how you even know about it."

"Almost?"

He sighs. "I figured that you know about it because you know about Emiliana's concerns. But I'm confused how you know about that. We didn't even know."

It's time to lie... or rather, stretch the truth. "One of my CIs heard some chatter. She figured it was something that I probably should know."

Sergeant Grey folds his hands together on his desk and leans forward slightly. "I see."

"Anyway, I was wondering if maybe I could go talk to her."

"About that..."

"What?"

"She's the first on the list for our team to look into. They're at her place now."

My eyes go wide. "She's in danger, then. They all are. If this lead is true, I highly doubt the fact that he couldn't get to her first is going to stop Alejandro. He's probably already given his goons on the outside the go-ahead to sabotage the interview."

"This knowledge needs to stay between us until you can fill the team in. It's top secret, and I don't know how the existence of the team even got out, let alone made its way to Alejandro-"

"Well, sir, my CI also informed me that there have been rumors of a rat inside the station."

"Sh!t. I'll have to take care of that later. This takes priority. Anyway, as I was saying, this is top secret. I can't just text or radio them to fill them in. And you know the details and specifics better than I would. Your overtime is approved. Go get into uniform and head their way."

"Yes, sir. Who's the team, by the way?"

"Lopez, Nolan, and Chen,"

My blood runs cold. It's going to be a lot harder to keep this from getting back to Tim if the mother of his children, his literal fiance knows about it.

"Thorsen?"

"Hm?"

"Is something wrong?"

I shake my head, trying to mask my panic. "No, sir."

"Alright, then get going. And hurry."

Sergeant Grey texts me the address and after changing into my uniform and loading my gear into my shop, I start driving to the location. I just hope that I'll make it in time.

QOTC: If you could visit any country, what would it be?